


Rebirth

by nomdefauxplume



Category: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s), Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 01:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21236051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomdefauxplume/pseuds/nomdefauxplume
Summary: Post-canon examination of relationships, growth, and a new challenge.





	Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fanfic and I have approximately zero idea what I'm doing, but I hope you enjoy!

# Rebirth

## Etrepa

### One Entrepa

Tyr Siilas station was unusually subdued as the AI-controlled ship approached for docking. Of course, many ships had computers of various capacities, but this was a ship from Athoek, the home of the nascent Republic, and that meant the ship istelf as sentient. Recognized, less than two years past, as a Significant being, unbound by any of the human beings aboard who were utterly at its mercy. Of course, the Treaty also protected those humans aboard - at least those who were not citizens of the AI republic - but Netano Aughskold felt a deep unease that he'd agreed to take passage aboard. What good would the treaty, and his own Significance be if he should be flung out an airlock? 

For all his apprehension, Netano did also feel a sense of excitement. This ship was the Ghost of Athoek itself, an ancient survivor from a war in the Radch. The _first_ Radchaai Civil War, unlike the more recent war that had shattered the once-united empire of Anaander Mianaai. While the current (or semi-current, given the ceasefire) war was of much greater relevance given his duties as Prolocutor, that first war had taken place over three thousand years in the past. Long before Hwae was even terraformed, much less independent or settled. The Prolocutor didn't know much about the Radch, but anything that ancient - especially still making history today - would likely provide a truly remarkable vestige. As he watched video of _Gem of Sphene_ complete it's docking procedures, Prolocutor Netano grinned. Even his sister Ingray would be jealous.

### Two Etrepa

Queter didn't like Netano Aughskold, Proluctor of the Third _Whatever_, but she was evidentently important enough that when the Tyr Executory recieved an urgent summons for her back to Hwae, they had asked all visiting ships and - with a certain reluctance - asked the visiting Athoeki ship to escort her home. Queter had thought she was a she, there was a picture Ship showed her from the database she'd compiled upon recieving the request, and the tri-gendered local languages seemed to indicate the female Delsig pronouns would be appropriate. Of course, while Ship could speak Delsig fluently, it was a Notai ship and thought of these things in a very Radchaai way; furthermore, all the translations of the local languages were provided into Radchaai. Nevertheless, when they'd first introduced in person, Queter had been shocked, almost sent her away, asking Ship,  
_Sphene? Are you sure this is the right person?_ to which Sphene had responded with an image of the same person, and another person, who before Queter had determined was female. _I'm sorry, Queter. They're both Netano, somehow, a local custom._ Queter had shuddered at this, wondering what sort of people these were who would raise children only to make them become themselves, like the Usurper.

Netano hadn't failed to notice her confusion when she addressed him - _him_ \- but had taken it in stride. _Of course_, thought Queter, _he expects a Radchaai to have this problem_. That idea didn't hurt much these days, but it reminded her of when she'd first become Lieutenant-Commander. She hadn't minded the implants, not really, but when she'd tested the armor, saw her reflection, shining silver form, she'd felt powerless. Not like she had in Security, but like she had when Raughd Denche had opened the door with her knowing, arrogant smirk and told her that she was going to kill a Fleet Captain. Of course, Queter wasn't Radchaai - nobody in the Republic was Radchaai - which was indicated by her uniform (traditional Notai style on the right impaled vertically with her own, Valskaayan design in a dazzle of blue and green) and her title, which had been created especially for her rapid promotion to command _Sphene_. Still, knowing that this Netano Aughskold person saw her as a Radchaai hurt. Queter didn't comment, but adjusted the Xhai-style sash over her uniform, and welcomed him aboard.

### Three Etrepa

Netano's feeling of fear and excitement intensified as he settled in to his small berth on the ancient warship. The shockingly young acting captain had her original business to conduct on the station, and while being alone with the....the ancillaries had been difficult at first, he managed to calm himself. Still, he found himself regretting going to Tyr Siilas on his sister's behalf - and the Executory had been curteous but only minimally helpful in his fact-finding mission to learn more about just _how_ Pahled Budrakin had been smuggled out of Compassionate Removal, and what other foreign powers might have access. Useful, because it aligned the interests of Hwaean security hawks with Ingray's reform mission (and the Aughskold brand, obviously). Even as Ingray worked to demolish the idea of Compassionate Removal as "Compassionate" at all in the public mind, Netano - both of them - would present evidence to the Third Assembly (and, frankly, every other one they could, without seeming overly invested) that Compassionate Removal was a massive security breach just waiting to happen. Already had happened, of course, which was one reason Netano was even Prolocutor at all.

Had Netano still been Danach, he probably would have felt more angry about failing. Another chance for Ingray to outdo him, unseat him, destroy his future. He didn't have that jealousy anymore, that fear - he still envied her, of course, but now for her freedom, her courage. For being in the right place at the right time. For having _won_. Still, she really was his sister, and he owed her. Besides, she was right about Compassionate Removal, and his being here had let him see a truly unique piece of history. He still wasn't sure how he'd explain about vestiges, but there was plenty of time. Assuming they didn't kill him, or make him an ancillary. Netano sighed, and hoped to himself that this Lt. Cmdr. Queter's errands were brief.

### Four Etrepa

The errands that Queter ran were not brief. Even with the recognition of Significance by the Conclave, and the seperate trading agreements with the Presgr, Athoek still faced significant economic challenges. The Radch might be disintigrating, split now into one large stable rump state, a number of independent breakaway worlds at the fringes, and the two known states. Both of those states would themselves be among the largest and most powerful star empires in known space as independent entities, and both were hostile to both Athoek (impotently) and the main Radch (less so). None of these states would trade with Athoek in any way, so the Fleet of the Republic had a dual mission to both defend the homespace and to act as diplomatic and economic assets to new trade partners. Tyr Siilas was a minor regional power at the very best, but it was relatively close to the Geck, whose remarkable biomechs had impressed the Cousins when they saw them at the Conclave. Making inroads in this region had been moved up in priority since that date, and this mission had brought samplers of Daughter of Fishes, the new Athoeki entertainments, and a number of high-value cultural exports from Ychanna and Xhai traditions as gifts - or, more realistically, _samplers_ to a gathering of merchants and Executory officials.

Queter was also here to sign a one-year preliminary trading agreement with the Tyr Executory as the authorized representative of the System Council. The ceremony was an irritatingly formal affair, but agreeing to ferry Netano home seemed to have earned her some gratitude among the dignitaries. Some kind of emergency had summoned him home, and either he himself or the emergency was important enough to demand his immediate personal attention back home, even though he had another self there. Further discussion with _Sphene_ indicated that this was, at least, not an ancillary situation - the two Netanos were only legally the same person, not actually one entity otherwise. Queter felt relief at that, though she still couldn't shake the feeling that this Netano was, or used to be, a little shit. She and Ship would have to find a way to have some fun with him before they got to Hwae...


End file.
